Just a bit Early
by Squirrel Stone
Summary: She had felt power and embraced it, with surprising effects. Set in the first season right after they meet Minako.
1. Formation

I don't own Sailor Moon.

It's a plot bunny of the moon! (Bad pun...) Occurs during and after episode 33 in the Japanese version, 29 in the English version. And just so you know, these lines (until it veers into the wonderful world of AU) are from the actual anime, not the dub or my mind.

* * *

Sailor Moon winced as the power of the dome closed in on her. A sharp-shooting pain had started in her right shoulder moments ago, and she wasn't quite sure what had happened.

Kunzite chuckled at them. "Give it up! You will never break the barrier!" he ordered them.

"I can't breathe... the air..." Sailor Moon choked out.

"How do you like the taste of my darkness?" Kunzite asked, making the dome close in on him more.

"Master Kunzite, please be careful," Zoicite advised as she walked up to the group. "In addition to Tuxedo Kamen, there is another enemy nearby."

"Zoicite, did you fail to capture Tuxedo Kamen?" Kunzite asked.

"Such cold words. I was just about to take care of that," Zoicite replied sheepishly. "Tuxedo Kamen! Look! It is the end of Sailor Moon and her friends!"

"What?" Sailor Moon asked, looking around. "Tuxedo Kamen?"

Meanwhile, Mamoru was placing his mask back on his face, ready to give up the rainbow crystals in his posession. "If you want to save them, come out with the rainbow crystals!" Zoicite declared. "Surrender yourself, Tuxedo Kamen!"

"Tuxedo Kamen, don't come!" Sailor Moon yelled, but she could still feel herself growing weaker by the second. "I can't hold on anymore..." With that, Sailor Moon collapsed to her knees.

"Sailor Moon!" Luna yelled from her hiding spot.

"Wait!" Tuxedo Kamen yelled, limping out onto the battlefield.

"We did it, Master Kunzite," Zoicite congratulated himself and his superior. "That's right! In the end, there is no way for you to win!" Adding in a statement to the senshi, he said, "Struggling will only bring you more suffering. It's important to know when to give up."

"No! You're wrong!" a new voice called. "No matter how hard it is, you must never give up!"

"It's the same voice again!" Zoicite declared, looking for its source.

"Oh, that voice is..." Luna began as they all found the true source of the voice.

"Who are you?" Kunzite demanded.

The decked-out-in-orange girl jumped down from her place to the ground. "Sailor warrior, Sailor Venus!" she exclaimed, removing her mask. "If you will pardon me, I have arrived! Crescent Beam!" The blast sliced Kunzite's hands, and he flinched back.

"Master Kunzite!" Zoicite exclaimed as the shield broke.

"The barrier is gone!" Sailor Moon declared. Three of the four formerly-trapped senshi looked up to Sailor Venus. Sailor Moon, on the other hand, seemed... angry. She raised her crecent moon wand, and a bright, pink light emitted from it without her saying anything. She felt a strong power nearby- power that just needed to be put together. The light grew, and Tuxedo Kamen ran back to his hiding place. Slowly but surely, the light enveloped the senshi, the two remaining shitennou, Tuxedo Kamen, and finally, all of Tokyo. They looked around in shock as the setting changed. Night turned to day, and at the center of the city, a palace of crystal erupted. The shitennou were immediately destroyed, and the senshi felt the negative energy that was in the city disappear.

Tuxedo Kamen was gone by the time Sailor Moon's fuku changed into a long, flowing, white dress with golden accents. The light around Tokyo grew even brighter for an instant before disappearing, and the dress turned into the fuku as Sailor Moon passed out, Jupiter managing to catch her just before she hit the ground.

"Look!" Sailor Mercury declared, pointing at the five rainbow crystals on the ground. She scooped them up in her hand. "Well, now we know that we have an upper hand on the Dark Kingdom."

Sailor Venus, on the other hand, had leaped up to the highest point that she could. "I don't think that's the only thing we have over them..." she said, and Mercury, Mars, and Jupiter leaped up to see what Venus was talking about, Jupiter taking a bit longer due to the weight of Sailor Moon.

"Oh..."

"My..."

"Does this mean what I think it means?"

"Usagi... the moon princess..." Luna muttered, practically slapping herself in the face. Sailor _Moon_. _Moon _Princess. Duh.

"And she is now much more than that," a new, ominous voice said. The scouts turned to see a woman in a senshi outfit holding a staff of some sort. "I am Sailor Pluto, the Guardian of the Time Gate. Crystal City Tokyo was not meant to happen until the princess turned twenty-one, but it seems her power and confusion has led the world into a new era." The soft smile on her face indicated that this was a good thing. "She is now Neo-Queen Serenity. I suggest you treat the princess- correction, queen- well."

"Confusion?" Sailor Mars asked. "What could she be confused about?"

"I'd start with why her shoulder is bleeding," Pluto suggested before heading through a portal to her position as the Guardian of Time.

It was about that time that Sailor Moon woke up and got out of Jupiter's arms. "Wh-what happened?" she asked weakly, holding her shoulder. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion as she felt a sticky substance on it. She pulled her hand away and gasped when she saw blood. She was only confused more as the four senshi got down on one knee, bowing to her. "Why are you..."

Sailor Venus rose and explained, "You... you don't know? You're the moon princess."

Sailor Moon couldn't help but laugh. "No, I'm not," she replied. "I-I can't... I mean..." Mercury, Mars, and Jupiter stood up, and Mercury pointed behind Sailor Moon's shoulder. The blonde turned around, and her mouth dropped as she saw the crystal palace. Some light protruded from it, even in the dead of night. "Did I do that?" she whispered.

"Princess, you're bleeding; we need to get you to a doctor," Venus declared.

"I can sew up the wound," Mercury stated. "I just need a sewing kit."

Venus nodded, though hesitant due to their age. "The best place would be the palace," Venus decided. "We need to get there before dark forces take it over."

* * *

Okay, so I was reading this fic over and almost cried. It was so poorly written! My OCD-ness has caused me to come back and make some adjustments. Hopefully, this time around, it will be much better.

Please review!


	2. Greetings

TropicalRemix: Well, first off, thanks for being the first to review this fic with corrections. As for the whole Moon Princess/Mamoru thing... well, you'll just have to find out (evil grin).

* * *

The people didn't know what to do. Some of the people walking by or living nearer to the park watched on in shock as the crystal rose right out of the ground. It was like something out of _Superman_. The Fortress of Solitude just rose out of nothing, right in Tokyo.

Some people were scared. What was going on? Was a hostile takeover occurring? Who was going to die from this?

Others were excited. A whole new world was coming to Tokyo. What exciting new things would happen? Who would come into luck with this new development?

But, for sure, _everyone_ was confused. No one knew exactly what was going on. A whole new world _was_, in fact, coming to Tokyo, and no one could say that a hostile takeover wouldn't result in the end of many lives. All they could do was wait.

The Tsukino parents were fast asleep when the palace rose. They felt the 'earthquake' and got out of bed, rushing into Shingo's room. How had no one known? The bells weren't ringing, and Japan, Tokyo especially, was known for its early-warning system of earthquakes and tsunamis. Shingo, however, was looking out his window. The two parents approached the window their son was staring out of so intently and gasped. There, they saw the palace rising up in the distance.

Mizuno Saeko had been operating on a patient that had been the unfortunate victim of a drunk driver when the earthquake hit. She let out a few... _choice_ words as the lights flickered and the room shook, but it soon ended, allowing her to get back to work. Once she finished the operation, however, the victim safe and sound, she noticed some nurses excitedly rushing to the room. Confused, Saeko followed, resulting in her seeing the bright palace rather nearby in the park.

Grandpa Hino smiled as he walked through the shrine, ignoring the panicked Yuuichirou's attempt to get him to safety. Grandpa, on the other hand, merely asked the boy to get him some rice from the grocery store. "Rice?" Yuuichirou asked in shock. "At _one in the morning_?"

Poor Makoto had no family to worry for her, to panic about the rising.

And Minako... her parents weren't even in Japan. They had sent their daughter back to Japan on her own.

Usagi still felt horribly weak as she and the other senshi made their way into the palace. They walked into the palace, and a pink light washed over them.

"Tsukino Usagi, Mizuno Ami, Aino Minako, Hino Rei, Kino Makoto, Luna, and Artemis," an automated voice stated blandly. "DNA accepted." The door behind them closed, and the door in front of them opened. They walked inside, surprised by what had just occurred. The girls and Artemis almost screamed when a blueprint hologram appeared in front of them. The robotic voice began speaking again. "Sorry for the surprise. These are the blueprints for the castle. In the case that you get lost, just call out the word 'blueprints', and a copy will appear before you." The blueprints disappeared, and the girls walked off to where Ami had noted the infirmary was.

Usagi sat down and patiently waited for Ami to stitch up her wound. "So," she began as Ami cut the string tying her wound together, "did anyone else feel something... change? Not just the palace rising, but something else."

"I felt it, too," Luna agreed. "It was like all the severe negative energy in the country vanished."

"Your attack might have destroyed the Dark Kingdom," Artemis continued. "Luna and I will go out searching for anything strange tomorrow-"

"You mean other than a crystal palace rising out of nothing?" Sailor Venus asked, eyebrow raised.

"You know what I mean, Minako-chan," Artemis scolded.

"Yes, well, it seems that you five have some time to rest and get to know each other," Luna informed them. After all, you were great friends in the Silver Millennium."

The girls looked at each other with paranoia, but Usagi was the first to break the ice by detransforming. "I'm Tsukino Usagi," she smiled, giving a polite bow to Sailor Venus. Slowly, one by one, each of the senshi detransformed, ending with the still-hesitant Rei.

"So..." the blonde now known as Aino Minako began. "I think we should come here every day after school to train and learn more about our jobs."

"Yes, because that will work," Rei replied sarcastically. Imitating a passerby, she said, "Hm, five girls and two cats repeatedly coming in and out of a magical palace shortly after the senshi and their cats come into the palace. No, there's no _possible _way those could be connected."

"Blueprints!" Minako called to nothing, and the 3D image appeared before them. "Locate escape tunnels." The blueprints separated into many smaller blueprints, and each one started showing a path to a different escape tunnel.

"This is so cool," Makoto whispered.

"It's far beyond anything I've seen on the Mercury computer," Ami agreed. "The artificial inteligence it must require..."

"What about our families?" Usagi asked. The other four turned to her in surprise. "My parents... what will they think? Are they even my parents?"

"Usagi-chan, of course they're your parents," Luna promised. "They're just your parents from this time. You are their daughter as much as you were Queen Serenity's daughter."

"Promise?" Usagi asked hesitantly.

"Of course," Luna replied. "...But they can't know about this. No one can know your true identities. Not yet."

"Well when can we tell people?" Makoto asked. "We can't keep this a secret forever. People are going to be asking questions, you know. And they have a right to know the truth."

"We will tell them once we have established a strong government and do not have any interfering conflicts," Artemis explained. "Perhaps when you girls are on a school break."

"Okay..." Usagi agreed hesitantly. "That's two months. Plenty of time to settle in. Right? But... I want people to know who is governing them. They don't have to know it's Tsukino Usagi and her friends, but Mako-chan is right. They have a right to know who Neo-Queen Serenity is, why she's here, and what her plans are. I don't care if I have an interview with a reporter or a press confrence or whatever, but I want everyone to know that I'm here to bring peace."

The others nodded in agreement.

"We should meet back here after school tomorrow," Minako decided. "It seems there is an escape route near a few schools. I'm presuming they are yours?"

The girls nodded in response.

"Good," Artemis continued. "Meet back here. Four o' five. Don't be late."

"Until then, you should all get plently of sleep," Luna agreed. "You're going to be very busy from now on."

Using the blueprints, each girl got back to their homes. Usagi was in the middle of taking a bath when she realized something. "HOLY CRAP!" she yelled, not really caring who heard.

"What?" Luna asked, suddenly alarmed.

Usagi's heart was about to thump-thump-thump its way out of her chest. "_I'm_ the Moon Princess. How did this happen? I thought the princess wasn't supposed to be a senshi."

"Hm..." Luna mused, thinking back. "Well, it's still a bit fuzzy, but I think Queen Serenity used her power to make you a senshi so Earth would stand a better chance against the Dark Kingdom. I promise I'll explain everything once I get all my memories back. And you might want to stop and think every once in a while, too. Your memories should be coming back as well."

"Great," Usagi replied sarcastically. "One day I'm failing bio, the next I'm destined to rule Japan."

"Uh... Usagi-chan?"

"Yes, Luna?"

"It's not just Japan," the black feline explained. "...You're going to rule the world."

The color drained out of Usagi's face faster than a rabbit ran across the road. "I need to go to bed," she decided in a whimpering voice. She got out of the bathtub and wrapped a towel around her body before heading into the hallway, where she was promptly met by her worried parents.

"Oh, Usagi, where have you been?" Ikuko asked. "We thought you might have gotten hurt when that... whatever-it-is appeared. You weren't in your room. Where have you been?"

"Were you with a boy?" Kenji demanded. "You were with a boy; I know it! Where'd I put my shotgun...?"

Usagi only smiled and hugged her parents tightly. "Oh, I'm so glad you're my parents. I couldn't have possibly gotten better parents to prepare me!"

"Prepare you?" Ikuko asked. "Prepare you for what?"

No one saw it, but at that point, Luna facepalmed.

"Uh... for... university," Usagi lied. "Yeah, that's it... university. Only a few more years... until... university... Goodnight!" With that, Usagi ran into her room and shut the door, Luna just barely making it in with her.

"That was close, Usagi-chan," Luna repremanded. "You're going to need to learn to better control your tongue. You're also going to have to learn the history of each of the planets, moons, stars, and dwarf planets in this and the neighboring galaxies." Luna did a backflip, much like she had when she had first given Usagi her henshin brooch, and when she landed, she was standing on a stack of eight thick books. Usagi looked at the books in shock. It easily went up far above her head, even when she was standing.

"And this is for ours and the neighboring galaxies?" Usagi asked in shock.

Luna looked at her strangely in an expression akin to confusion. "Oh, no," Luna replied. "This is just for the sun and the inner planets, not even counting Jupiter."

Usagi's eyes widened further, and before she knew it, she had passed out on her bed from shock.

* * *

Well, looks like Usagi's got some reading to do. I looked it up, and to cover the sun, planets, dwarf planets, and moons of our solar system would require 188 books, seeing as I'm separating it by each of the stars, planets, dwarf planets, and moons having their own book. Poor Usagi's gonna have an aneurysm by the time she's finished reading... the first book. Heck, I think I'm gonna have an aneurysm by the time I'm finished _researching_ this stuff. It's too bad astronomy got cut from the curriculum this year. Then again, what the heck does astronomy have to do with biology? Seriously, someone please answer that, because up until this year, it was considered the most important part of the bio curriculum.

And just for your entertainment/information:  
Sun: zero moons  
Mercury: zero moons  
Venus: zero moons  
Earth: 1 moon  
Mars: 2 moons  
Jupiter: 63 moons (Usagi's gonna have fun reading those ones)  
Saturn: 62 moons  
Uranus: 27 moons  
Neptune: 13 moons  
Ceres: zero moons  
Pluto: 3 moons  
Haumea: 2 moons  
Makemake (no, I did not _make_ that up... please pardon the horrible pun): zero moons  
Eris: 1 moon

And how about Usagi's explanation/avoidance to her parents? Who doesn't love seeing confused parents in a fic?

Please review!

P.S.: Sorry again about the pun. I think this fic brings out the worst of my punning.


	3. HELP! KIDNAP!

Warning: If you intend to use my "books" that I've given Usagi to read for your studying purposes, have fun failing your test/quiz/homework. Everything is FICTION. I MADE IT UP. The sun was not created the way I said it was, nor is any of this other stuff true. It's just more entertaining to hear about wars between good and evil than it is to read about a supernova and planetary debris.

blondebirdy11: Thanks. I plan on working some random UsaMamo fluff in. :)

inufan155687: Well, Mamoru has the other two, so I'll just let you imagine for now...

TropicalRemix: Thanks, and I do have fun imagining her torture reading those books. Haha.

* * *

Usagi slowly pulled herself out of bed the next morning and winced at the stack of eight books on her floor. "So, where are the others?" she dared to ask. "If this is only the inner part of our solar system, where is everything else?"

"At the palace," Luna explained. "I delivered the books last night to its library."

"So I'll get to go to the palace. Yay," Usagi mumbled sarcastically.

"Usagi-chan, I know you're worried about this, but you need to relax," Luna ordered. "This is going to happen, whether you want it to or not."

Usagi sighed nervously. "I know that, Luna," Usagi replied. "It's just... what if I'm a bad ruler? I've never held a position of power like this before. What if I screw up the world?"

"You won't," Luna assured her charge. "But you are going to get detention if you don't get to school in a hurry, and if you get detention, you'll be late for the meeting."

"No, wouldn't want that," Usagi stated, her voice dripping with sarcasm. She rushed around to get ready, picking up the Book of the Sun before preparing to leave the room. "Wait- will people be able to tell what this is?"

"No, it's enchanted," Luna replied. "Anyone who's not a senshi will only see a manga in your hands."

"Good," Usagi sighed before heading out to her school. On the way there, she crashed straight into Mamoru. "Seriously?" she asked, more to herself than Mamoru. "All that stuff last night, and now this?"

Mamoru's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "You okay, Odango?" Mamoru asked. "What happened last night?" In a bout of obsessiveness he did not know he had, he snapped, "Did someone hurt you? Who was it?"

Usagi pulled away and let out a small laugh. "No one, Mamoru-baka," she objected. She walked past him, muttering, "You're worse than my father..."

"Oh, no you don't," Mamoru scolded, grabbing Usagi and pulling her along with him. "You are not leaving my sight until I find out what hurt you."

"For the love of Pete, _nothing hurt me_!" Usagi rolled her eyes. "You know, this is kidnapping! I could send your ass to jail!" _Hm, does the palace have a dungeon? I'll have to figure that out..._ Still, Mamoru pulled her along. Usagi had just opened her mouth to scream when Mamoru pulled her into an alleyway and placed a hand over her mouth. As a response, Usagi bit his hand. Hard.

Mamoru bit back a groan and pulled his hand away. He was going to find out who hurt his angel. Wait- his _angel_? When did he start thinking of her like that? "I'm not letting you away from me until I know you're safe."

Usagi let out a laugh. "Are you insane?" she demanded. "I'm in more danger with you than I am at school. This. Is. Kidnapping. Let me go, or I'll scream." When Mamoru made no move to release her, Usagi opened her mouth to scream. Before any sound could come out, however, Mamoru's hand was once again over her mouth. Even worse, his hand was covering her nose. She couldn't breathe. She tried to struggle, but to no avail. The vision around the edges began to blur, and everything went black.

Usagi groaned tiredly as she woke up. Where was she? What had happened?

Oh yeah. Mamoru-baka went nutso on her. That's what happened. What the hell had possessed him to kidnap her, she would never know, but she did know that she had to get out of there- fast.

She shot up out of the warm bed she was in and looked around. There was a window, and she wandered over to it. There was a balcony, but it seemed that she was in the penthouse apartment of wherever she was, and there was no where to jump to, even with her senshi powers. She retreated back into the room and checked the three doors located in the room. One led to a closet, the next to a bathroom, and the third to a living room of sorts. Sitting on the couch was Mamoru reading through the Solarian book. It was taking him a while to read one page before he flipped to the next one- much longer than it should have taken if the enchantment caused the person to see a manga.

"Good morning, Odango," Mamoru said, not looking up from the book. "Did you enjoy your nap?"

"No, you _kidnapped _me. Does that mean _nothing_ to you?" Usagi demanded.

"I wasn't letting you out of my sight as long as you were in danger," Mamoru explained.

"Gee, I had no idea you cared so much," Usagi replied sarcastically. "Now if you don't mind, I need to get to school. Where are we, anyways."

"My apartment, of course," Mamoru replied. "And you're not going anywhere. Not as long as you're in danger."

"Where were you the last six months?" Usagi mumbled under her breath.

"What was that?" Mamoru asked, not catching Usagi's sentence.

"I'm not in danger," Usagi shot off. "Just give me my book and let me go to school."

"Book?" Mamoru asked, eyebrow raised. "Odango, that's over five thousand pages of gibberish."

Usagi paled, her eyes widening to the size of saucers. "Manga my ass," she grumbled so Mamoru couldn't hear. Louder, so Mamoru could hear, she said, "It's a long story, but I _need _that book back. Now. No one else is supposed to read it."

Mamoru laughed. "More like no one else is _able_ to read it. I wouldn't be surprised if you used a special font for your handwriting and made up that book. Then again, that would require that you have a brain."

This was good. They were falling back into the roles of each other's tormentor. A bit more prodding, and he would kick her out. "You are such an arrogant jerk. I'll have you know that is one of DaVinci's journals. You're probably just to uptight to think creatively enough to understand it."

"Ge-" Mamoru cut himself off in the middle of throwing Usagi out. A smirk crept its way across his face. "Nice try, Odango. You almost had me there. I was close to kicking you out. But close only counts in horse shoes and hand grenades. You're staying here. You can have something to eat if you want or watch the coverage of that... thing that appeared in the park last night. You do know about that, right? Then again, you're probably too socially unaware to know about it."

"I know about it," Usagi snapped. _Heck, I pretty much created it..._ She snapped out of her self-induced trance and slowly walked over to the couch, sitting down next to Mamoru and pulling her book out of his lap. She flipped back to the front and started reading it, occassionally looking up to the flat screen TV, where Mamoru was playing news coverage of the Crystal Palace.

While the symbols on the book seemed foreign, Usagi was easily able to read them. She knew full-well that it was in no human language. She should not have been able to read it. And yet...

_History of Solaria  
Author Unknown_

_Chapter One Summary: The Rise to the House of Light_

_Solaria was not always the source of light and energy for the solar system of Seretica. Solaria was originally run by an unknown group from the Dark Kingdom. Some even think that they were the start of the Dark Kingdom. Solarian life was grueling and painful under the rule of King Polta. However, when Polta died due to a peasant uprising, a new dynasty began: the dynasty of Kitramane. King Devonsq Kitramane banished those following the Dark Kingdom and formed an army to fight the dark forces._

_After a thousand years of war, King Devonsq III led his people to victory against the Dark Kingdom._

Usagi let out a sigh of relief. That was the first chapter summary, and that hardly took up half a page. The actualy chapter couldn't be that bad... right? Checking ahead, Usagi's smile quickly turned to a frown. There were about fifty pages in chapter one alone.

Usagi groaned and closed the book, putting it on the coffee table, causing Mamoru to smirk and raise an eyebrow.

"Tough read?" he challenged.

Completely forgetting her anger at him for a moment, she explained, "First chapter. Fifty pages. Two dynasties. Two wars. And that's just according to the summary."

Mamoru chuckled, but still felt sorry for the odangoed blonde. He recalled his days of reading seemingly endless pages of history. Now he was reading seemingly endless pages of medical text. At least it was something he wanted to read about. Usagi seemed to have very little interest in what she was reading.

"Maybe you should take a break and watch TV," Mamoru offered, gesturing to the news. Just as he did, there was a news report saying that all schools had been closed for the day due to the... _development_.

A look of realization slowly came across Usagi's face. "You jerk!" she exclaimed, gently hitting him on the chest. "You knew that entire time! You were never concerned about my safety at all!"

"Well, your parents _are_ paying me to watch over you today..." Mamoru explained.

"My _parents _are paying _you_ to watch over me?" Usagi demanded. "I don't need a babysitter!"

"No one said you did," Mamoru replied. "I work part time as a bodyguard. The whole crystal-thing really freaked your parents out apparently. Well, at least that's what the scientists say that thing in the park is made out of. No one can get in."

"Hm... interesting..." Usagi said, easily distracted from her anger... but only for a moment. "Wait- why would my parents hire me a bodyguard! I can take care of myself!"

"I'm sure they know that; they just wanted to make sure that you stayed safe," Mamoru replied. "Now, we can either stay here or go out. Your choice."

Usagi sighed. "Well... we might as well just stay here," she decided. "See how much people are freaking out about the palace."

Mamoru let out a small laugh. "You make it sound like you've been there before."

"Don't I wish," Usagi lied. "I mean, imagine what's on the inside. It could be something totally new and exciting. I just want to know what's going on."

"You and half the world, Odango," Mamoru agreed, turning to the TV screen.

"**...no recent developments have come in, but scientists are working to bypass the security system. However, this is proving to be unsuccessful. One scientist says the technology is 'far beyond anything humans hoped to create in the next century'. So, does that mean aliens have landed in Tokyo? Your guess is as good as mine. Stay tuned for more info after these short messages.**"

"Don't you just love how they make it sound like it's nothing?" Usagi asked sarcastically. "For all we know, there could be life on Pluto, and they would make it sound like a man made sushi for the first time. Not even an important man. Just your average Joe."

Mamoru only chuckled at her musings. "Maybe you should get back to studying, Odango," he suggested. "Don't want another failed test landing on my head."

"Grr... Mamoru-baka," she grumbled, but still picked up her book and started to read.

* * *

Okay, now... please don't kill me for this. I just got seven new fic ideas, and more are forming in my head as we speak. I've become a **Luna**tic. Once again with the bad puns; I am sorry.

And what do you think of Mamoru's bodyguard status and his teasing of Usagi over it at first? How will Usagi get away from Mamoru to get to the Crystal Palace? And- gasp!- Mamoru can read the book!

As for a refrence point: the _Book of Solaria_ is about five-thousand pages long. The length of an average textbook is about one-thousand pages long, give or take a hundred. Once again, we go into the whole deal of 'poor Usagi-chan'.

Please review!


	4. Hodgepodge of Emotions

Usagi blinked once. Twice. Three times. Where was she again? Oh yeah, her _bodyguard's_ apartment because her parents were so worried about her. She heard a soft laughing and turned her head to the direction of the kitchen, where Mamoru was entering from.

"You really enjoy that book, don't you?" he asked sarcastically. Usagi had gotten about fifteen pages in before she had fallen asleep.

"Tiny font, lots of pages," Usagi defended herself. "What time is it, anyways?"

"Oh, about... four-ish," Mamoru explained. "You must have been really tired to sleep all day."

Usagi's eyes widened. "Uh... gotta go," she quickly said. She leaped off the couch, her book and school stuff in her arms, and tried to walk past Mamoru. She got past him, alright, but he grabbed her wrist. Usagi quickly turned around and extended her hand, resulting in Mamoru being thrown into the wall and knocked unconscious through some form of telekinesis. The color drained from her face, but she still retreated out the door. She was way late, she had no clue where she was, and she had just gotten a major kick-up in her powers.

Just a normal day in the life of Tsukino Usagi.

Usagi looked around for one of the escape tunnels, recalling that there was one that let out at the subway station Usagi saw about five meters from her. She ran down the stairs and made a sharp turn, letting out a small yelp when she realized the tunnel was closer than she had thought. She ran through the tunnel, trying to decipher the passageways until she reached a ladder. She climbed up it and poked her head up. She was in a kitchen of some sort.

Usagi finished her climb upwards and called out, "Blueprints!" The image appeared before her. She hoped this would work. "Locate senshi." The blueprints quickly zoomed in to a room, and Usagi followed the directions to get to it. When she walked into the room, the attention of the occupants turned to her.

"You're late, Usagi-baka," Rei informed her.

"Sorry, but my parents hired me a bodyguard because they were freaked out about the whole palace-thing," Usagi explained. "Let me tell you, it was _not_ easy to get away from him. I only got away because of an advancement in my powers. I... kind of... threw him across the room telekinetically."

The others' eyes widened, their mouths dropping. "Usagi-chan, this is great!" Luna exclaimed. "Well, it's not great that you knocked out your bodyguard, but the magic thing is good. Now how far did you get in the book?"

"The... book?" Usagi asked nervously. "Oh, about... fifteen pages."

"WHAT?" Luna demanded. "Usagi-chan, you had all day to read it! I expected you to at least be on chapter ten!"

"I'm sorry, but my bodyguard is kind of crazy and decided it would be funny to pretend he was a kidnapper and knock me out before he told me the truth," Usagi explained. "And for the record, I really am trying, but I don't really want to read about some guy who would likely want to kill us if he was alive coming to power."

"I know it may seem pointless, but it is necessary," Luna told her. "You need to know the nature of the planets you are to be ruling. You-"

"Wait," Usagi interrupted. "Last night, I went from ruling Japan to the world. Now, I'm going from ruling the world to ruling multiple _planets_?"

Luna seemed hesitant, but replied, "This galaxy, anyway, but you still need to know about the neighboring galaxies to keep the peace." Usagi gained a look that mixed shock and horror on her face, and she fell back into the chair next to her. "Usagi-chan? Usagi-chan? USAGI-CHAN!"

"Way to go, Luna," Rei accused. "You've made her go catatonic on us." Rei brought her hand back and slammed it down onto Usagi's face.

"Ow!" Usagi yelped. "Rei-baka, what was that for?"

"You went catatonic," Minako explained.

"You're in shock," Ami continued.

"Well can you blame her?" Makoto asked. "In less than twenty-four hours, she's gone from semi-normal girl to ruler of the galaxy. Of course she went catatonic."

"Well, she needs to understand her responsibility sooner rather than later," Artemis shot back. The entire group turned to Usagi, only to realize that she was no longer there, her schoolwork and the Book of Solaria still there.

Usagi didn't know how long she had been running through the palace, trying to get to an escape route. Somehow, she managed to get back to the place she had come in, and she took the route back to the surface, near Mamoru's apartment. Just as she was coming up the stairs, she crashed into a firm body. She looked up and saw a frantic Mamoru.

"Oh, Mamoru-san!" Usagi exclaimed, hugging him tightly. "I'm so happy you're here."

"Odango, what happened?" Mamoru asked. "One second you were in my apartment, the next I was waking up on the other side of the room."

Usagi swallowed nervously. "It's a long story," she informed him. "Can we just go back to your apartment?"

"Sure," Mamoru whispered, wrapping his arm around Usagi's shoulders and leading her back to the penthouse. The two made their way up the elevator and into the apartment, where Usagi sat down on the couch, Mamoru daring to sit next to her. "So what's up? Tell me what's wrong. I can't protect you if you don't tell me what's wrong."

"I can't," Usagi whispered. "I want to tell you, believe me, I'd be willing to tell _anyone_ at this point, but I'm not allowed to. Besides, it's not just my secret to tell."

"Well, then... just tell me your part of the secret," Mamoru suggested.

Usagi took in a shaky breath. "I... I know why the crystal palace is there," Usagi confessed.

"What?" Mamoru asked in shock. "Usagi-chan, we have to tell the police."

"NO!" Usagi objected quickly. "I can't... people could be in a lot of danger if I did. There... there are things going on that ordinary people don't understand. No one wants anyone to get scared." She leaned against Mamoru, trembling slightly.

"But you are," Mamoru realized easily.

"Of course I am!" Usagi exclaimed, momentarily forgetting whom she was speaking to. "I-I mean... it's a big change. Everyone's scared to some degree." _I can't let him know I'm at the frontlines of this! Even if he was hired to protect me. I'm Sailor freaking Moon! I can take care of myself... right?_ The seed of doubt firmly implanted in Usagi's mind, she snuggled down more into Mamoru's warm embrace. Hesitantly, his arms wrapped around her to comfort her.

"You're safe with me, Usagi-chan," Mamoru promised.

Later that night, Usagi was being dropped off at her house by Mamoru. "Thanks for driving me home," she smiled softly.

"Hey, it's just part of the job," Mamoru reminded her.

"Right..." Usagi replied nervously, getting out of the car. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Absolutely," Mamoru promised.

Usagi walked inside and headed straight upstairs. When she got into her room, she all but collapsed on the floor. Mamoru was right. She was scared. She didn't really know what was going on, she sure as hell didn't know what to do, and she didn't really have all that much guidance on it.

She struggled to her feet and grabbed a backpack out of her closet. From there, she went to the dresser and started carelessly shoving her clothes into the bag. She was sobbing as she went about her task, but she knew it had to be done. She couldn't stay and allow herself to go through this. She was no princess, no queen. She was just plain old Tsukino Usagi.

She had made it halfway out the window when her mother opened the door. "Tsukino Usagi, where do you think you're going?" Ikuko demanded.

Usagi froze in her tracks, tears threatening to fall from her eyes. "I can't do this," she whispered. She went back to exiting the room, but Ikuko pulled her back in and sat her down on the bed.

Ikuko slowly took the bag from Usagi and looked inside. "Usagi, what's wrong?" Usagi made no attempt to respond. "Come on, Usagi, tell me what's wrong. Is it a boy? Did you get into a fight with your friends?"

"I can't do this," Usagi repeated. "It's just too hard... I'm not strong enough..."

"Usagi, I don't understand," Ikuko replied. "Please tell me what's wrong."

"I'm not allowed," Usagi whispered. "I wish I could, but..."

"Oh, Usagi," Ikuko cooed, hugging her daughter. "Whatever the problem is, we can fix it. Is it drugs, a gang? Are you pregnant?"

"No!" Usagi quickly replied, getting the most reaction Ikuko had seen from her daughter in their short time together that day.

"Then what is it?" Back to no response. "Usagi..."

"I just need some sleep," Usagi whispered, lying down on her bed.

That night, Usagi dreamed of the most peculiar things. There were strangers from other planets, bizarre animals and plants, and seemingly neverending wars. Sitting up, she saw that her father was sitting in a chair to watch over her, but had fallen asleep.

She reached under her pillow and grabbed her journal, writing something on a blank page before ripping the page out and leaving it on the pillow. She raced around silently in order to get ready before she left the house. Eventually, she arrived at her intended destination: Mamoru's penthouse.

Mamoru opened the door, and he smiled upon seeing Usagi. "Aw, too bad," Mamoru complained. "I wanted to kidnap you again."

Usagi smiled and rolled her eyes. "Shut up, you jerk," she commanded, entering the apartment. "I need to be with someone I trust, just... get away from it all."

"Okay," Mamoru smiled. "I take it that means you want to watch TV and veg out?"

"You got it," Usagi grinned, flopping on the couch, Mamoru flopping down next to her. "So what have you got on TV?"

"Just about everything," Mamoru confessed. "You choose what to watch."

So the two spent the day relaxing on Mamoru's couch, just being together and hanging out, Usagi not having to worry about her destiny in the slightest.

* * *

Hello, there! It's Squirrel, once again working on fics while my parents think I'm working on my homework. ;)

Semi-UsaMamo moment there at the end. But still, poor Usagi, having to deal with all that responsibility at such a young age. She's confused, lost, and stuck with way more power than she ever could have imagined. It seems that I've been saying 'poor Usagi' in a lot of my fanfics lately, huh?

Next chapter: Usagi faces destiny, and she discovers what it truly means to be queen.

Please review!


	5. Discoveries

IsadoraKayStone: Eventually, you'll find out in a little while, and it'll be a variety of things.

PriestessHelene: Thanks. That was what I thought was my main problem when I first wrote this: she just acted like it was normal, when it obviously wasn't.

Fire Dolphin: I haven't quite decided when that's going to happen, but it will happen eventually.

inufan155687: Yeah, I probably do need to work on that... It's kind of hard giving a cat emotions and human-like qualities...

* * *

The next morning, Usagi reported to Mamoru's house, as was expected of her. Her parents were hesitant to let her leave the house, but after a bit of begging, they allowed her to go, provided she called once she got to Mamoru's house.

Ha. Her. Begging. To go to Mamoru's house. Who would have thought? Then again, anything was better than being forced to go to the palace. Mamoru was safe. He was able to protect her from her own fears. That was all she had to be afraid of. Her fear of responsibility, he fear of screwing up, but she no longer feared the Dark Kingdom. They were gone. She got rid of them. Just another reminder of her power that she did not even know how to control.

Mamoru opened the door, a soft smile on his face. "Good morning, Odango," he welcomed. "Your parents told me about your little escape attempt last night. You want to talk about it?" He moved so she could come in.

Naturally, the blonde shook her head as she entered, picking up the phone to call her parents. The conversation could not have lasted more than a few seconds, and then Usagi came to sit on the couch. She leaned on Mamoru as he flipped through the channels, trying to escape the news about the crystal palace. That was nearly impossible, but it was do-able if he really tried. Today, however, Mamoru didn't want to waste the time and see Usagi this upset. He turned off the TV and stood up, taking the blonde with him.

"What are you-" Usagi began, but Mamoru cut her off.

"We're going to spend the day out and about," Mamoru declared. "I don't like you moping around."

"But Mamor-" Usagi tried to object, but Mamoru cut her off again.

"No buts," he ordered her. "We can do whatever you want, provided it's out in the city."

Usagi sighed heavily. "Fine," she agreed. "As long as we get to go to Crown."

"Absolutely," Mamoru promised.

Makoto had been spending her days in the Crystal Palace itself. There was already a room designed specifically for her, a full kitchen put inside it. Sure, it wasn't as big as the main kitchen, but it was bigger than the kitchen in her former apartment. She had finished paying the rent for the month and moved out. It was actually a good thing that the palace came to be. Her lease was almost up, and the man who had just bought the building said that she couldn't rent an apartment there as a minor. She was ready to pull out a lawsuit about discrimination against youth, but then the palace popped up. She had used the blueprints to locate any spare bedrooms, but instead of showing her any spare rooms, the amazing artificial intelligence machine asked her if she wanted to go to _her_ room. Makoto had been a bit more than shocked, but followed the directions to her bedroom.

The first thing she saw when she walked in was a short hallway. She continued past the hallway and looked forward. There was a cream-colored sofa in the center of the room with a dark green blanket hanging off the back and some chairs surrounding it, the sofa itself facing a flat screen TV hanging on the wall above a brick fireplace. The wall was to the left, and if she looked a bit further to the left, she saw the full kitchen, complete with refrigerator, freezer, oven, stove, and even an island for cooking. To her right she saw a narrow passageway that required two carpeted stairs to go up. She went up said stairs and gasped when she saw a queen-sized bed with a dark green duvet cover and pink silk sheets. There were four pillows that could actually be used for sleeping- two light pink and two dark green- and various decorative pillows in the same two colors. On either side of the bed was a dark green glass nightstand, giving the room a modern feel.

To the left of the bed was a desk facing the entrance to the room, but stationed right behind the window, allowing whoever was sitting there to look out the window while working. Behind the desk, next to one of the bedside tables, was a door. Upon opening it, Makoto found a closet. But it was not just any closet, no. It was _huge_. It was big enough that there was a circle of a chair in the center of it. And even better, everything inside seemed to be made exactly for her. IT even had her school uniform in her size! Which was good, seeing as she'd just finished a growth spurt and was now too tall for her regular uniform.

Makoto had been in such shock that she couldn't even walk inside the closet to find out what else there was. So she retreated back into the bedroom. On the right side of the room, there were some bookshelves, a laptop- and a nice, new one at that- a dresser, and another door. Makoto approached the mysterious second door and opened it, revealing a bathroom that was almost as big as the giant bedroom part of her bedroom. There was a bathtub in the corner that was actually fitted for the corner and looked more like a hot tub than a bathtub, complete with jets. There were two sinks, both encased in granite, and a separate shower from the bathtub with a 'foggy effect' door so no one could see her showering if they walked in for one reason or another. There was an iPod dock complete with iPhone attached and charging, waiting to play music while she took a bath. The towels were a nice, forest green, similar, but not identical to the duvet cover on her bed.

Now, however, she was sitting on the sofa in her room, reading the last few pages of the Book of Jupiter. Though Usagi was required to read all of the books for this and the surrounding galaxies, each senshi was only required to read the books involving her planet and its moons- sure made life easy for Ami and Minako. Usagi had been right about the books being boring, but that was only at first. About a chapter or two in and the books turned into an exciting adventure story. There was a severe battle for power between Zeus, the evil ruler that was conceited enough to consider himself a god and used his powers to taunt and torture Terrans, and his sister, Diônê. She barely won, and she died a few days after due to the injuries sustained during battle. On her deathbed, she granted her powers- Jupiter's crystal- to her daughter, Diônê II. Diônê II used her powers to heal the war-torn land of Jupiter, though one hurricane in the southern hemisphere refused to go away. People were smart enough to leave that one alone.

Eventually, she got to the last chapter of the book and promptly gasped. There, as the main picture for the chapter, was two copies of herself, one wearing a dark green gown, the other wearing her senshi fuku. She looked older in the pictures, about seventeen or so. She stared at the picture in shock for quite a few moments before she dared to begin.

_Chapter 100: Diônê IX_

_The final Jupitarian Princess before Jupiter was destroyed by the Dark Kingdom was Diônê Anabeth Jupitaria. The prophecies surrounding her generation of senshi are baffling and left unexplained in many cases. However, she was known to be the strongest of the senshi in their solar system, possibly even in the whole galaxy._

Makoto was completely entranced by her reading until she got to the page about her death. She had been in love, and he had turned against her. They had both died at each other's hands_. _Rather poetic if you thought about it. Makoto noticed some blank pages in the back. She promptly pulled out the green pen she had stuck in her hair and began writing in the neatest script possible.

_Chapter 101: Kino Makoto_

_My name is Kino Makoto, better known as Sailor Jupiter, Princess Diônê Anabeth Jupitaria IX. Three months ago, I met Tsukino Usagi, Mizuno Ami, and Hino Rei. That's when things started to get weird._

Ami had finished her book as well and was writing her story, completely fascinated by the way the blue ink from the pen she was using turned into neat, black script that matched the rest of the book. So far she had gotten through her childhood and the little things she now realized were early indications of her powers and was writing about how she met Usagi and became a senshi. She remembered it like it was yesterday. She was going to cram school, just like normal, when before she knew it, some crazy chick in red and blue was rushing into the classroom, telling her to stop stealing the students' energy. Little did she know that she was but a pawn for the Dark Kingdom. She hadn't even known what she was doing! And then Luna showed her the truth.

She had just finished recounting her adventures of becoming Sailor Mercury when she heard her mother come home. She fumbled around to place her usual textbooks over the Book of Mercury and pretend to look like she was studying, accomplishing the task just in time_._ Her mother entered the living room and looked over Ami's shoulder. Ami thought she was in the clear, but Saeko's eyebrows furrowed. She moved Ami's textbooks out of the way and picked up the Book of Mercury.

"Really, Ami?" her mother asked. "I thought I taught you better. Studying comes before manga. Maybe those new friends of yours are a bad influence..."

"No!" Ami quickly replied. "They're getting me into all those after school clubs. Colleges look at more than grades now, you know."

"I guess..." Saeko agreed reluctantly before walking back to her bedroom, allowing Ami to fall back on the couch with a hefty sigh.

Minako was beside herself. She had moved in to the Crystal Palace along with Makoto, but she had left a note in the house for her parents (if they ever dared to show their faces near her again) that she was now living with some friends and needed no help from them to survive. Odds were that they wouldn't find the letter for quite some time.

Either way, her new bedroom was perfect. It emphasized the essence of love that was in her title and she secretly harbored with desperate desire_, _but knew she could never attain.

_"Your love will be hopeless for all eternity..."_

Ace's words echoed roughly in her mind.

Tears in her eyes, she pulled herself out of her trance and looked around her room once again. Unlike the other girls' rooms, the bed was the center of focus. It was rather... elegant. Sort of. It was round and in the center of the room, though the door had been strategically placed so that you would not just walk into the room and see the bed. The bed was covered in orange and white silk sheets and surrounded by strands of orange beads. There was a round bedside table next to the bed made of white plastic that you would think would be tacky, but somehow looked rather classy in the room. There was a desk to work at, a dresser, a TV, a fireplace, and so on, but everything had a softer, more loving look to it. There were various candles placed around the room, adding to the effect of love coating the room.

Minako sighed and went to go sit down on the couch when a firm hand was placed over her mouth.

Rei sat at a small table in the shrine, having a conversation with Grandpa, who had just revealed to her that he knew about the rising of the Crystal Palace and Rei's secret identity. "How far have you gotten in your books?" he asked calmly, recalling the Great Fire speaking of three magical books that were of some importance to Rei.

"I just finished the Book of Mars and am writing a bit about myself in it," Rei explained. "Now why didn't you tell me you knew who I was, even before I did?"

"Because your destiny was to find out when you did," Grandpa replied. "I was only permitted to tell you once the Crystal Palace rose. How are your comrades handling it?"

"Okay, I guess, but Usagi is freaking out," Rei told him. "I still don't trust Minako-san."

"Don't worry; she is on your side," Grandpa assured her. Just give Tsukino-san some time to adjust and Aino-san time to get used to working with a team. They will both come around, and the world will be at peace, especially when you all eventually reveal your identities to the world."

"Any chance you'll tell me when that-"

"No."

Usagi and Mamoru had just entered the Crown when fear overcame Usagi. She bolted out of the arcade, resulting in the confused Mamoru following the surprisingly quick blonde. Usagi didn't stop running for her bodyguard, though. Instead, she kept on running until he could no longer keep up. Once she lost him, she ran past the police line surrounding the bank, causing many policemen to run after her, ordering her to stop, but they having to stop themselves once she ran inside. It was there that she came to see a man with a ski mask on shooting a poor security guard who had been stupid enough to try to be a hero.

The robber had surprised even himself, running away out the back entrance, likely getting arrested the second he stepped out of the building. Usagi ran up to the security guard and knelt down, checking his abnormal pulse. She felt a power stir within her, and she raised her hand above the gunshot wound on the man's body, just as a silver light appeared from her palm. She watched in complete shock as the man's wound disappeared, leaving behind only a few traces of blood and a bullet hole in his shirt.

Usagi looked around quickly, but kept her head down so no one could see her. She easily escaped in the panic.

* * *

Hello, people of the Earth, Greece, and Mars! Today I am here to ask you a question: would you please help me create some characters for my new fics. Yes, fics, plural. It's a rather detailed bio that you have to fill out for your character, but I really want these to be good. If you're interested, just review so, and I'll send you the character template. Thanks!

Please review!


	6. Touring

luna aka moon: Thanks!

IsadoraKayStone: I hated Ace, too. He is- my bad, _was_- such a (censored).

little princess of mercury: Thanks. I can't really remember how I came up with it exactly, but I think it had something to do with me feeling like there were too many questions left once the senshi left the future in SMR.

PriestessHelene: Thanks. I really wanted Usagi to have some sort of character development, instead of her just accepting being the princess and living happily ever after.

* * *

Usagi ran into the Crystal Palace, soon meeting up with Luna. The black cat had a worried expression on her face, mostly due to Usagi's panting and rather disgruntled appearance. "Usagi-chan, what happened?" she asked. "Are you okay?"

"You... won't... believe this," Usagi panted. "A man got shot... and I healed him. I don't even know how."

"Oh, Usagi-chan, I knew you could do it!" Luna cheered, jumping up on her charge's shoulder. "You're unlocking your powers. This is great! So how did it feel to save that man?"

"It felt... different," Usagi confessed. "It was different than when I heal a youma. This felt... sort of sweet." She wasn't quite sure how to explain it. "But it helped me realize something: if I can heal one man, then why can't I protect the galaxy?"

"That's the spirit, Usagi-chan!" Luna cheered. "I'll go tell Artemis and Minako-chan your decision. Mako-chan is out at the store right now, and Ami-chan and Rei-chan have elected not to move in yet."

Usagi paled slightly, a realization hitting her. "Move in?" she squeaked.

"Of course, Usagi-chan," Luna replied. "You have to move in eventually. How else are you supposed to rule? You can't exactly work out of your bedroom at home."

"Right..." Usagi replied, seeming a little bit shaken by the idea. "Uh... I'm gonna go read." With that, Usagi darted off to the library to read the Book of Solaria, trying to find something to distract her from the obvious fact that she'd have to tell her parents what was going on sometime soon.

Many hours later, Usagi found herself looking at a picture of the last senshi of Solaria. She had golden-colored hair, much like Usagi's, but she had it pulled up in a ponytail like Makoto. Her uniform was comprised mostly of yellow with an occassional hint of red, and she was smiling in the picture. That was the last page in the book before it got to the point where the next senshi could write about herself and the enemies and trials she'd faced.

She placed the book back on the shelf and reached for the Book of Mercury, but it was gone, as were the books for all the inner senshi. Usagi couldn't help but crack a smile as she picked up the next available book, the Book of Terra- Rei had taken the books for Phobos and Deimos as well.

She plopped down on one of the sofas in the library and began to read.

It was nearly seven when she realized she had to go home, and she decided to leave the book there. However, what she didn't know was that if she merely turned the page, she would see a clear picture of the Terran prince, Endymion.

Her parents were in a panic. Mamoru was at the house. She was _so_ screwed.

"Tsukino Usagi, where have you been?" Ikuko demanded, hugging her daughter tightly.

"Mamoru-san told us you just ran off!" Kenji continued.

"What were you thinking, Odango?" Mamoru asked. Then the realization hit him. He gave her a small nod and said, "Going off to see your friends after I specifically told you it was too dangerous?"

Usagi caught on to Mamoru's sudden cover for her and said, "Well, I haven't seen them in a while, so I dropped by the shrine to say hello. Then we kind of got caught up in talking and lost track of time."

Her ever-forgiving mother just sighed and said, "Don't do it again, okay, Usagi? If you want to go somewhere or do something, tell Mamoru-san and make sure he's okay with it."

"Hai, Mama," Usagi agreed, allowing Mamoru to leave, giving Usagi a wink as he left.

It was only the next day that Usagi got to go back to school, where people were- what else?- gossipping about the Crystal Palace.

"I heard that they're going to annhilate us because their home planet was destroyed, and they want our planet because the atmosphere is similar," Umino claimed, causing raised eyebrows from everyone.

"I heard there's a princess that's locked in there, not allowed to leave!" Naru exclaimed.

"Wouldn't it be amazing to be a princess?" another girl asked.

"No, not really," Usagi grumbled so no one else could hear.

The bell rang, signaling everyone to go to their seats. Haruna-sensei came in, looking rather excited. "Well, class, today we've managed to get a special treat. One of the people working at the palace has offered to show three high school classes from Tokyo around the palace, and we were lucky enough to be picked!" she exclaimed, the enthusiasm evident in her voice.

If Usagi had been drinking anything, she would have choked. Or done a spit take. Or both. It's a toss-up.

"Now, the offer was for today and today only, so all of you get in a single-file line, and we'll head out to the bus," Haruna explained.

_What, no permission slips? _Usagi thought. _I am going to kill Minako-chan. She's probably the one who set this up._

The bus was filled with chatter on the way there, and Usagi was glancing over to Ami and Makoto, though they were 'cool as cantalope', as Minako would say. Clearly they were in on Minako's little plan.

The bus slowed to a stop outside the gates, and the gate opened to allow them in. Somehow, Usagi wasn't sure how, but the castle had managed to gain an iron gate with a brick wall surrounding the palace since its construction.

Either way, they were inside the gate. There was no going back.

When the kids departed the bus, all seemed a bit apprehensive, like they expected to be blown up or something of the type. Haruna-sensei led them inside, and Usagi saw the main hall for the second time in her life. Sailor Venus was standing in the middle of the room in a military manner, but as the group approached, her expression softened.

"Ohayo," she smiled. "My name is Sailor Venus, and I am the head guard here. I've invited you all here today so people won't be scared. The other guards and I figured who better to explain things to the people than a small group about our age? You're going to get a tour of most of the palace, save a few private bedrooms and living areas that only the senshi have access to. Before we begin, are there any questions?"

One shy kid raised his hand. "Do you live here?" he asked.

Venus smiled. "As a matter of fact, I do," she replied. "I and Sailor Jupiter have moved in along with the advisors, but the other senshi have yet to move in. This should be happening soon, though.

"Why is this place here? _What_ is this place?" another kid asked.

"You are in the Crystal Palace, a place designed to be the central hub of good and light in the world," Venus informed them. "Any other questions?"

"Are there a prince and princess who live here, too?" a third teen asked skeptically.

"As a matter of fact, Sailor Moon, the Princess of the Moon, is getting ready to move in soon," Venus told him, causing the teens' jaws to drop. "After all, what's a palace without a princess? Any more questions?" Silence. "Good, now if you'll follow me, you'll find that this is the main hall. I wish I had some cool, historical fact to say about it, but it was just created on Monday. The most history it has is when we first entered the palace."

There was a bit of laughter from the students on that one.

"Next we'll head into the library, which contains refrences on... well, pretty much everything," Venus stated, opening a set of double doors to reveal the giant library. If anyone looked closely enough, they would have seen that the Books of Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Jupiter had been put back while the Books of Phobos, Deimos, and Ganymede were missing, along with the Book of Terra, which was lying on the sofa Usagi had been sitting on the day prior.

Minako continued to lead the shocked and awed students around the palace, showing them the kitchen, the dining room, the gym, the indoor pool, the ballroom... everything. And that was just the first floor!

The second floor contained mainly quarters for people working there as well as living there, which currently added to zero. The next floor was mostly for guest bedrooms, the fourth for mostly classrooms and school-related things once the palace got a large number of people living there, the fifth was a place dedicated to all sports, whereas the first only had a pool and a gym. The sixth held a theatre, a pool table, and other general stuff for hanging out and having fun- even a music room. The seventh floor was a collection of a place for all religions. There were large rooms for Shintoism, African Animism, Christianity (Catholocism and Protestants alike), Islam, and Judaism.

The eighth floor is where it got serious. The entire eighth floor was just a training room, the walls padded, the elevator consealed in an iron box to avoid it taking any damage, weapons hidden behind the walls... the works. The room was so big, seeing as it was the entire floor, that if Usagi was at one end of the room and Venus was at the other, the orange-clad girl would be just a speck in the distance. Venus then told them of a strict 'look, don't touch' policy on the room. The ninth floor held a fair amount of diplomatic information, consisting of a giant room with a giant, floating globe in it, another room holding books on all the countries of the world, written in the country it described, and various rooms for diplomatic meetings. The tenth floor was a set of rooms designed specifically for senshi meetings- Venus had denied them access to that floor.

The eleventh floor was a bit like the first floor with the dining room and the kitchen, but it was smaller, clearly meant for only the senshi and their families. The floor itself was a bit like a house within the palace, meant just for them.

The twelth floor went right back to business, containing planetary relics and henshin wands for all the unawakened senshi in the world who had died that fateful night at the ball on the moon. That was sort of a way to keep track of who had been awakened. Usagi noticed that Venus was watching everyone like hawks on that floor to be sure no one stole anything.

Lucky thirteen had doors all around leading to the outside, where there was an observation deck. Inside, there were computers tracking negative energy and Dark Kingdom activity.

The fourteenth floor was where the rooms of the Outer senshi were located for when they eventually joined the gang- though Usagi was not sure why Uranus and Neptune were contained in one room. There was also a room for each of the outer planets that simulated that environment while incorporating something that senshi loved. Like the separate room for Neptune was a giant aquariam with musical instruments around.

The fifteenth floor was the same as the fourteenth, but for the Inners and Luna and Artemis. Oddly enough, they found the two cats lying in their room, snuggled up under the covers of a king sized bed. The class couldn't help but giggle upon seeing the small felines in said king-sized bed. Venus had absolutely _forbade_ them from going into her room or the rooms of any other senshi, including the outers. The rooms gave away too much personality, made it too obvious who lived there.

The final floor Venus went as far as to refuse to take them up. She explained that it was the princess's room and not only did they have to have a key to go up there, the computer had to analyze your DNA and state that you were okay to be up there, which it did for only the solar system senshi, and even then, the planetary ones, not the ones from the moons of the other planets.

After that, they went back downstairs, and Venus led them around the grounds, showing them the gardens, the stables, the prison (everyone gulped nervously at that one), and the outdoor pool.

"If the grounds are so big, why don't you just have the riding trail lead around the palace?" one girl asked curiously, referring to the trails the horses went on.

"Because we don't want the horses to get too tired," was all Venus replied.

Usagi looked back at the palace and realized that any horses would, in fact, tire due to the large perimeter of the palace and the utter lack of shade.

When they arrived back at the bus, it was almost dark. However, Venus wasn't quite done with her little tour. "Now," she concluded, "I'm not going to lie; I do have a bit of an alterior motive for bringing you all here today." The students and Haruna-sensei waited with bated breath. "We obviously have no staff here, and we're looking to hire some people to work here. I assure you the pay is excellent, and we have jobs for adults and teens alike. If you or your parents want a job here, feel free to send a résumé to the palace. Thanks, and I'll let you get back to your day."

With that, the students and teacher boarded the bus and drove back to school.

* * *

Hehe. I liked writing about the palace and its awesomeness. What about you? What do you think of the palace? If you have any suggestions on things I should add, please tell me. It's fun imagining this place up in my head.

It would also be awesome if you could check out my poll on my profile and go to my web site: squirrelholdingabazooka. webs. com

And remember, if you want to create a character, you can! Just ask and I'll send you the template.

Thanks everyone! I feel honored to have so many awesome readers out there!

P.S. There was a hint in here about what the plot of my Minako-centric fic will be. Let's see who can find it first!


	7. Who to Hire

PriestessHelene: Nope, but good guess!

Moonlight Phoenix: Don't worry; both these questions will be answered in this chapter.

Katie: Well, I'll try, and I have a pretty set outline of this, so it'll more than likely be completed.

inufan155687: Thanks. It dates back to when I was little, and I would doodle 'dream houses' in all my school notebooks.

* * *

When Usagi got back to the school, Mamoru was there waiting for her, leaning up against the brick of the building lazily wearing jeans, a white t-shirt, and a black leather jacket. All he needed was a cigarette and he'd be the perfect Danny Zuko or Jim Stark. He watched Usagi intently as she said good-bye to her friends and headed in his direction. Just as she passed him, he stuck his arm out, grabbing her and pulling her close to him.

"Hey!" she objected. She looked up and realized who he was. "Oh, it's you."

"What? You expecting James Dean to come and drive you away on his motorcycle?" Mamoru asked, eyebrow raised.

"No, I was expecting some psychopath trying to kill me," Usagi confessed as Mamoru handed her a black motorcycle helmet. Her eyebrows then knitted in confusion. "What's this for?" she asked.

"Come on," Mamoru ignored her question, leading her out to the parking lot.

"So what did you do all day without me to protect?" Usagi teased. "I hope you haven't found another damsel in distress to save."

Mamoru only chuckled at her. "I was at my company," he explained. "Even _you_ must know about Chiba Inc."

Usagi stopped short, raising an eyebrow at Mamoru. "You?" she asked, seeming somewhat amused. "_You're _Mr. Fantabulous Playboy Chiba, the youngest head of a company that Japan has ever had?"

"Sixteen-years-old when I started," Mamoru confirmed. "I'm amazed I didn't get more criticism for my age when I first started working."

"Maybe people don't care about you as much as you think," Usagi countered.

"Ouch, Odango, you're hurting my feelings," Mamoru joked. "I believe that to make up for it, you must now wear that helmet the rest of the way to your house."

Usagi only chuckled and pulled the helmet down on her head. It was a lot harder to put on than she thought, but once it was on, it did, in fact, fit her head. Mamoru raised an eyebrow at her and burst out laughing. "I can't believe you actually put that thing on," he chuckled. "Though, it's a good thing you did, seeing as we're going home on..." He let his voice trail off as he clicked a button on his keys, causing a black motorcycle in the parking lot to start up. He got on and gave a little head nod to Usagi. "Hop on," he ordered over the sound of the engine.

Usagi grinned behind the helmet and hopped on the motorcycle, following Mamoru's instructions on how to position herself.

Usagi handed Mamoru's helmet back to him as she got off the motorcycle back at her house. "Thanks for driving me home," she thanked him before heading into her house. She was promptly met by her worried and curious parents.

"Oh, Usagi, are you okay?" Ikuko asked. "We heard you were going to see that palace."

"Did anyone hurt you?" Kenji demanded worriedly.

"No, no, I'm fine," Usagi assured them. "It was... rather interesting. The palace is run by the senshi. They want to help people, spread good and light and... stuff like that throughout the world. Uh, look, today was pretty busy, so I'm just gonna grab some leftovers and go to bed. G'night!"

Usagi rushed into the kitchen to grab some food before running upstairs to her bedroom.

It was on Saturday that Usagi got to go to the palace again, begging Mamoru to let her go. He allowed her, on the one condition that she would check in hourly via cell phone. She agreed, so there she was, talking with Minako as they went to go check the mail room, where all the resumes had been delivered.

"So why three classes?" Usagi asked. "Mine and Ami-chan's and Mako-chan's, Rei-chan's, and yours?"

"No, no," Minako objected. "The girls and I decided that we would bring your class here so you would have an excuse to get to look around the palace, but the other two classes were chosen at random to avoid suspicion. Your class went Thursday, another went Friday, and another is going on Monday. And lucky me, I have enough sick days unused at school, so I can be the tour guide for all three without being truant."

"Okay," Usagi replied, now in understanding as they reached the mail room. "Hey, why aren't the others helping us?"

"They are; they're just running a little late," Minako explained, opening the doors to the mail room, causing both girls to let their mouths drop.

The room was _filled_ with resumes and job applications. Apparently word had spread that the senshi were looking for people to work in the palace, and many people responded, some even from other countries.

"I hope they get here soon," Usagi grimaced. "How are we gonna get all these upstairs?"

"I'd say one giant stack at a time," Minako replied.

Two hours later, the senshi were almost done... sorting the resumes by country.

"And last, but not least, Meyer Gregory-san from California, USA," Makoto cheered, placing his resume in the section of the room that was holding American resumes. "So how are we gonna sort through these guys?"

"I'll look through Africa," Minako sighed.

"The Americas," Ami continued.

"I'll take Europe," Makoto shrugged.

"I'll sort through the Pacific Islands and Australia," Rei added.

"I guess that leaves me with Asia," Usagi finished, heading over to the continent of Asia's resumes. Unfortunately, that was the largest set of stacks, though also the easiest to read viewing that most of them were in Japanese.

And so, Usagi found herself either putting a red 'X' over the resume or putting it in another pile to be looked at by the other senshi. That was how they were narrowing it down: first it was separated by country by all of them, then they split into their own little continents and separated them by occupation applying for, then they went through and put red 'X's over the ones they decided not to give even a chance of hiring. If they made it past the first senshi it came across, it was passed on to the next senshi after they were all done with their own sorting to be checked over, and the process was repeated through all five senshi. Only the ones that made it all the way through stood a chance of being hired.

And Usagi... she was only on China, Chefs. Twenty chefs from China had applied, and she approved two of them. Knowing the girls, one, or even both, of them was going to get the boot within two passes. Next up: child care professionals! There were eight of those.

Usagi blushed slightly at the thought of having kids herself, and then she started daydreaming about her future husband and children. He would be tall, well-built, and a bit mysterious. There would be many children, some of them quiet, like him, some of them loud and rambunctious, like her.

"USAGI-CHAN!" Rei snapped her out of her trance.

"Sorry," Usagi blushed. "Where are Luna and Artemis, anyways? You'd think they'd help us..."

"They said they had some important recon to do involving the Ginzuishou," Minako explained. "I, on the other hand, think we'll be hearing little kittens running around soon enough."

"Huh?" Usagi asked in confusion, causing the other senshi to burst out laughing, partially from her comment, partially from Minako's comment.

"Well, it's okay, cause there's a pretty promising-sounding animal groomer from Egypt," Makoto joked, causing all the girls to burst into giggles again.

After that, they got back to work, and Usagi found herself on the phone, talking to Mamoru as she sorted through the Indian Dentists. "So what do you think of a guy who's had ten years of experience in the capital of India?" she asked.

"Sounds acceptable," Mamoru agreed. "But make sure to get a face-to-face interview and watch him work on at least three patients without him knowing to make sure he sterelizes everything properly and goes through the procedures properly."

"Okay, thanks Mamoru-kun. I'll see you around five-ish?" Usagi smiled.

"Fine by me," Mamoru grinned on the other line. "I'll see you then, Odango."

The two hung up, and the girls immediately began hassling Usagi. "You so like him!" Minako exclaimed.

"I do not!" Usagi refuted. "He's my bodyguard, and he knows part of our secret. I have to be nice to him."

"I have noticed that the pattern of your relationship with Mamoru-san has been gradual, indicating an adaption to his way of acting as he adapts to yours, as opposed to a forced reconsilliation," Ami stated coolly, earning her confused looks from the others. Sighing, Ami simplified, "You've got it bad, Usagi-chan."

"The only thing I _have_ are a bunch of giant stacks of Asians searching for jobs to go through," Usagi objected, turning back to her work.

By the time she had to leave, she had made it most of the way through Israel, only having the jobs of veterinarian-related careers and zoologists left. She checked her watch before deciding to get through the three veterinarian-related careers and the one zoologist before she left. Two of the vets were eliminated immediately due to their lack of... well, anything good on their resumes, while the third, a veterinary assistant was accepted by her. The zoologist was accepted as well.

Later, as Mamoru drove Usagi home from his apartment, she found herself looking through the first of the Japanese. "Is it okay if I bring some work to your apartment tomorrow?" she asked.

"No problem," Mamoru replied. "But only if I get to help."

Usagi let out a small laugh, smiling brightly. "I think that can be arranged," she agreed as the car slowed to a stop in front of her parents' house. "I'll see you tomorrow, Mamoru-kun.

"See you tomorrow, Odango," Mamoru smiled as Usagi got out of her car and ran up to the door. "And by the way!" he called as she neared the front door. Usagi turned back to face him. "I am _not_ a playboy."

Usagi let out a laugh and smirked. "I'll be the judge of that!" she declared before entering the house.

* * *

Aww. Semi-cute, semi-UsaMamo chapter. I know it was kind of fast-moving, but I really want to get to the next little part of the fic, where Serenity sort of introduces herself to the world. Please review!


	8. Eternal Love

Well sigh. I'm really looking forward to posting new stories with my new version of slightly more intense writing, but I told myself I wouldn't post any more stories until I finished at least two, if not three! I need inspiration! Somebody help me!

TropicalRemix: Nope, not yet.

tolazytologin: Well, there'll be some mixed reactions, that's for sure.

Moonlight Pheonix: LOL, rambling completely understandable. As for the whole 'abandoned friends' thing, I might include Naru, but I'm trying to avoid stretching my stories out longer than they need to be, as stated in the Author's Note above.

PriestessHelene: Thanks!

No Name: Well, I do work as fast as I can, but if I try to force the story out, it winds up looking bad. And I assure you, Usagi and Mamoru will be going out soon.

Midnight: Here ya go!

No Name: Thanks, and ta da! Here it is!

* * *

Usagi yawned tiredly as she found herself lying on Mamoru's couch, her head in his lap, looking through the various job applications she had been sent.

"Odango, why are _you _doing this?" Mamoru asked out of the blue as he put a red 'X' over one of the resumes. "Shouldn't the princess be doing this?"

"We're splitting the work evenly," Usagi explained. "I got Asia. Easiest to read, but the most in quantity."

"Hm, I didn't know you knew what the word 'quantity' meant," Mamoru mocked, earning him a gentle slap on the chest from Usagi. "Seriously, though, when are you going to tell me your part in all this? Your story doesn't quite line up the with senshi's, but you have the proof that says that you are, in fact, working at the Crystal Palace."

Usagi let out a small laugh. "What?" she asked. "Mr. Playboy doesn't have enough brain cells to figure out the truth?"

"Hey, I thought I was supposed to make fun of _you _for your lack of intelligence," Mamoru joked, earning a smile from Usagi. "But I just want to know the truth, honest. I won't tell anyone; I just want to know that you trust me. You've been going on this emotional roller coaster this past week; I'm worried about you. Maybe I shouldn't let you go back to that palace."

"That's blackmail!" Usagi claimed, though she could tell from the look on Mamoru's face that he had no intentions of forcing the answer out of her.

"Actually, it's extortion," Mamoru corrected.

"Either way, you are a massive jerk," Usagi accused, sitting up and facing him.

"You love my massive jerk-ness," Mamoru smirked.

"And if I were to agree?" Usagi asked, looking up at Mamoru. Mamoru looked down at Usagi, and he slowly moved to put a hand on her waist and bring her closer to him. They came closer and closer together, until their lips were nearly touching.

Then, Mamoru turned his head away. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I can't."

"Why not?" Usagi asked, her eyebrows furrowing. "Is it because of my age, or-"

"I've had these weird dreams all my life," Mamoru began to explain. "There is this princess... I think we're on the moon, and we're standing on a balcony. She begs me to bring her this Ginzuishou every night, and she says that if I do, I can get my memories back from when I was a kid before..." He voice trailed off, and he glanced to Usagi. "Before my parents died. There was a crash, and I lost my memories. And with this princess, I feel like I could really get my memories back, but lately the dreams have been turning... romantic."

Usagi watched Mamoru throughout his entire speech, and she felt her mind melting away to nothing. There was no way Mamoru-baka could be the prince in her dreams! But still, he mentioned the Ginzuishou... "I think your princess and my princess are one in the same," she stated, surprising even herself with her bluntness. "Be at the palace gates tomorrow at five, and you'll be let in."

Mamoru was confused, to say the least. He felt himself grow even more confused when Usagi pulled one of those giant gibberish books out of her book bag and opened it to the page she had bookmarked. She hadn't gotten around to reading it since Wednesday, meaning she had yet to reach the page with Endymion on it. She then flipped the page and, low and behold, Mamoru's picture was the main feature. The man she met in her dreams claimed to be a Terran prince, and there he was in the book.

"Odango, why is my picture in your book?" he asked, his eyebrows knitted.

"It's a long story, but it just confirms that your princess and my princess are one in the same. I can't tell you any more than that for now, but be outside the gates at five tomorrow," Usagi commanded. "Promise?"

"Uh, I-I promise, but-"

"Not allowed to tell you any more," she quickly silenced him, though she could feel excitement bubbling up inside her.

Mamoru only let out a breath of a laugh and shook his head. "You will always be able to confuse me, won't you, Odango?"

"That's my goal in life," Usagi joked before the two got back to work.

Mamoru nervously paced in front of the gates of the palace- well, as much as he could with all the paparazzi waiting around there. One of the last things he had expected was for a blonde girl with a crescent moon on her forehead that looked suspiciously like Usagi to run up to the palace gates, and open them just long enough for her to pull him inside. The girl smiled up at him, and Mamoru realized just who he was looking at.

"Moon Princess," he whispered in shock.

"Actually, it's Serenity," Usagi smiled back. They stood there for a few moments, their hands locked together, unwittingly giving the paparazzi plenty of photo opportunities before they ran inside the palace, smiles on their faces.

"What the hell are you doing?" Mars demanded upon seeing Usagi in her princess form standing with Mamoru. She pulled the blonde away from Mamoru. "Are you out of your mind?"

"Wait, where is Odan- Usagi-chan?" Mamoru demanded. "She's the one who told me to come here."

Mars glared daggers at Serenity, practically ordering her not to do what she was expecting.

"Actually, Mamoru-san," Serenity said, taking a step back to Mamoru. "_I_ am Usagi, Sailor Moon, Moon Princess."

Mamoru paled suddenly, staring down at Usagi. Then, without a word, he started walking away. He left the palace in a huff, Usagi trying to follow after him. However, Rei grabbed her friend's arm. "Usagi-chan, you can't possibly think you can go out there-"

"Well I am," Usagi replied, tearing herself from the fire senshi's grip and running after Mamoru. She exited the palace just in time to see him storming out the gates, and Usagi ran after him, the press, of course, running after _her_. By the time she had finally caught up with the man (who'd have thought Mamoru could walk so fast), he was at the outskirts of the park.

She grabbed his hand, her eyes beginning to water. "Please, Mamoru-san, you have to understand-"

"Understand what?" Mamoru snapped, turning around to face her as the paparazzi caught up to Usagi. "That you lied to me? That you tricked me?"

"I didn't want you to be in danger from anyone who would want to hurt me, and... and... I love you," she blurted out. "Oh my God... I love you." A single tear fell from her left eye, and for some reason, it began glowing. Everyone watched in shock as the tear hung suspended in midair. The Nijizuishou flew out of nowhere to the tear, causing the light to shine brighter and burst out, everyone but Usagi and Mamoru shielding their eyes. They could only stare on as the Ginzuishou was finally formed. The two closed their eyes, memories rushing back.

Slowly, the light faded, and Usagi and Mamoru opened their eyes to stare at each other. "Endymion," Usagi whispered.

"Serenity," Mamoru replied in an equally quiet voice, taking a step forward. He put a hand on her cheek, tilted her head up, and kissed her on the lips.

* * *

Yeah, so... not the longest chapter in the world, but you've gotta admit: that was the perfect place to end it. Mamoru is still miffed at Usagi, and I'll show that in the next chapter, but they just got their memories back and were getting all sappy. What did you expect?


	9. Justified

SerenityEndymion: Thanks! And, quick question: when did you join? It must have been pretty early on to get that user name!

IsadoraKayStone: Yeah, I'm sure he's kicking himself over that one.

UnReWriNet: Really? Thanks!

Priestess Helene: I don't physically hurt someone in _all_ my fics, do I? (checks archives) Crap.

* * *

Usagi and Mamoru sat across from each other in what was somewhat of a breakfast room in the palace attached to the kitchen. Both looked entirely uncomfortable with the situation. Usagi looked over to the clock and saw that she had less than an hour before she needed to be home.

"So..." she began, trying to get the conversation over with.

"So..." Mamoru mirrored. "What do you want to start with? Why you lied to me? Or what exactly just happened."

"Well... you know what happened, Mamoru-san," Usagi replied, reaching out to touch his hand, only to have him pull away. "The Ginzuishou appeared, and we got our memories of the Silver Millennium back. And I told you, I only lied to protect you."

"I can protect myself," Mamoru stated angrily. "I'm Tuxedo-freaking-Kamen, for Pete's sake!" Mamoru instantly realized his mistake.

"_You're_ Tuxedo Kamen?" Usagi asked, growing angry as well. Then, she let out a small laugh. "And you thought you had the right to get angry at me?" she snapped before standing up and heading home.

Usagi sat in her room, going through the list of resumes from Africa that Venus had approved. Venus had been extremely critical and cut it down to one job per career for each country or fewer, but that was still a lot of work to go through, considering how many countries there were on the continent. Not to mention the trouble they were having to go through once some of the resumes had to be sorted into Sudan and South Sudan.

She had let out an audible sigh of relief when she finally got to Uganda, signaling that she only had a few more to go. She read over the resumes with great criticism, trying to distract herself from the tears rolling down her eyes. A knock on her door almost caused her to jump out of her skin. "Usagi?" her mother's voice asked through the door. "Are you okay?"

"I-I'm fine," Usagi lied, scrambling to hide the evidence. Ikuko, of course, being a concerned parent, opened the door to see Usagi fumbling around with files and resumes. As she got up to put some of the stuff away, she tripped over her own two feet and fell to the ground. Ikuko was at her aid in an instant, hugging her sobbing daughter, though she couldn't help but notice what some of the files said.

"Usagi, what's wrong?" Ikuko asked.

"I'm sorry, Mama," Usagi cried. "I'm so, so sorry."

Minutes later, Usagi found herself sitting in the living room in a chair, curled up in a ball, her parents and brother on the couch across from her. "There's something I need to tell you," Usagi whispered, her voice now much calmer with the tears gone.

"We figured out that much," Shingo said in a dull tone, clearly not wanting to be there.

"Shingo, be nice to your sister," Kenji ordered diplomatically.

"I know I should have told you this a long time ago, but I couldn't. In fact, they'll probably freak out that I'm telling you even now," Usagi began.

"Who's 'they', Usagi?" Ikuko asked. "Are you in trouble? Are you in a gang or something?"

"No, no," Usagi quickly refuted. "But... I do have a secret, something you can't tell anyone once I tell you." She waited for three nods before continuing. "I _am_ Sailor Moon, the Moon Princess." She put a hand on her brooch and whispered the infamous words that would transform her into the sailor-suited soldier of love and justice. Upon her parents' and brother's mouths dropping, she gave a weak, "Ta da..."

After a rather uncomfortable pause, she went on to say, "If you have been watching the news, you'd have seen me with that glowing crystal in the park. That's the Ginzuishou, a crystal that, when used properly, will heal the world from evil."

And leave it to Kenji to immediately say... "What you kissing that man?"

"Papa, it was Mamoru-san, and... it's complicated," Usagi tried to explain. "You see, I knew him in my past life, and we were engaged, and when the Ginzuishou showed up, we both got our memories back, and it was just a bit overwhelming, and... and... and... I don't know what to do anymore."

"Oh, Usa, honey," Ikuko cooed, getting up to hug her daughter. "It'll all be okay; I promise."

"How do you know?" Usagi asked.

"Because I'm a mother," Ikuko told her. "Now, you know your father, brother and I are going to want to speak with your... ahem, _friends_, and Mamoru-san about all this, right?"

"I understand," Usagi replied. "Mako-chan and Minako-chan are living at the palace, so we could go now if you guys want to."

"Well, how are we gonna get in without all the press noticing?"Shingo asked.

"Oh, so that's how," Shingo muttered as they climbed up the ladder of one of the secret tunnels leading in and out of the palace. They wound up in the library, where the Book of Mercury was now missing, courtesy of Usagi needing to read it.

"Blueprints," Usagi called. "Find Mako-chan and Minako-chan."

"Sailor Jupiter located: training room. Sailor Venus located: Sailor Venus's bedroom," an animatronic voice called from nowhere.

Usagi bit her lip in thought. "Blueprints, locate Mamoru-san."

"Prince Endymion not located," the electronic voice reported back to her after a moment. "Did you mean Prince Endymion's guards? General Kunzite located: Sailor Venus's bedroom."

Usagi's eyes suddenly went wide, and her jaw dropped. "Uh... stay here," she told her family. "Feel free to look around the library."

With that, Usagi was off, rushing to the nearest elevator and heading up to Minako's room. She threw the orange door open and ran inside to see Minako and Kunzite lying on the bed. "_Oh my God_," Usagi breathed in shock. She ran up to Minako and pulled her away from Kunzite, Minako letting out a small yelp and grabbing the blanket to hide her naked body. "What the hell are you doing here?" Usagi snapped, glaring at Kunzite. Sure, Minako may have been Usagi's protector, but she'd be damned if she wasn't going to protect Minako in return.

"No, no, Usagi-chan, you don't understand," Minako tried to explain. "I kind of borrowed Ami-chan's computer and did a scan on him to see if there was any negative energy in him, and the amount was less than that of an average human!" Minako seemed to be giddy about the whole thing.

"You remember your past lives," Usagi realized, releasing Minako.

"Your highness, I am terribly sorry for the way you had to learn about Minako and me, but I assure you, I am not the Kunzite you were fighting. He was just a clone created by that witch, Beryl. I would never betray either of your trusts," Kunzite apologized, looking like he was about to stand up and bow, though thinking better of it.

Usagi sighed, realizing that she could sense very little negative energy from him as well. "My parents are in the library and want to speak with the senshi, and I guess you as well, about all that's going on with me. I'm going to go get Mako-chan; you two get changed and go downstairs."

"Yes, your highness," Minako and Kunzite replied in the manner they had been taught in the Silver Millennium.

After that, Usagi headed down the elevator to the training room, where she saw Makoto standing in front of a pole about six or seven feet high, staring at it.

"Hey, Mako-chan!" Usagi called out.

"Ahh!"

_Zap!_

_Beeeoowwww._

Usagi and Makoto, now standing in darkness, winced slightly. Usagi now understood the purpose of the pole: Makoto had been trying to hit it with lightning, only to have Usagi surprise her and take out the electricity on the floor.

"Good job," Usagi congratulated. "Your powers are really developing quickly. However, my parents and brother are downstairs and want to speak with the senshi about... well... everything."

"Oh, you finally told your parents?" Makoto smiled. "I'm happy for you."

"Yeah, and the Shitennou are alive and good; Beryl cloned them and used the clones for evil," Usagi continued quickly before heading over to the stairs.

"WHAT?" Makoto yelled, chasing after her.

The three senshi and one Shitennou wound up downstairs within minutes, Makoto eying Kunzite warily.

"So what do you three want to know?" Minako asked, her leadership qualities showing off.

"Why is my daughter going around kissing some man who is supposed to be protecting her?" Kenji demanded.

"Well, sir, that would be because they are destined to be together," Minako explained simply. "I assure you that the other senshi and I will not allow them to get past kissing until after they are married."

"M-_married_?" Kenji demanded. "There is no way my daughter is getting _married_!"

"There is _no way_ I am getting married to Mamoru-san," Usagi agreed. "He never told me, in all that time, that he was Tuxedo Kamen, and then he had the _nerve_ to get mad at me for not telling him I'm Sailor Moon!"

"Just... tell us what all is going on," Ikuko cut in, trying to keep the area somewhat calm.

Usagi sighed. "Why don't we go somewhere a bit less intimidating?" she suggested.

With that, the group went up to the eleventh floor, where they wound up sitting around on sofas, trying to relax. "The day we got Luna is the day I became Sailor Moon," Usagi explained. "She told me that I was a soldier of love and justice. I was then given my henshin brooch and fought my first youma. Mercury, Mars, Jupiter and Venus came along later, but Tuxedo Kamen appeared the night I did-"

"Wait, _Luna_ told you that you're Sailor Moon?" Shingo asked, eyebrows raised.

"Uh..."

"As a matter of fact, I did," Luna said, jumping up onto the coffee table. "And I suggest you pick your jaws of the floor when in the presence of the princess."

"Luna was involved in my past life, too," Usagi explained, picking up Luna and holding her. "She was my mothe- the queen's- adviser. She also was a guardian and friend of mine. I'll spare you the details and say that we all died when I was seventeen."

"A massacre," Shingo picked up on the implication.

"Genocide," Usagi corrected, a sad look in her eyes. "The myth of the Moon Kingdom has a few gaps in it. The reason people believed it to be a myth was because it was a massacre, not genocide that brought down the Silver Millennium. With a massacre, there could still be life, but there is no life on the other planets to this day, so it was written off as a myth. Other than that, it is mostly true.

"You can find out most of what I have done as Sailor Moon through the news," Usagi finished. "Is there anything else you'd like to know?"

"Yeah," a voice from the entryway said, making everyone but Usagi turn around. She knew who it was without looking. "Is there any chance of you explaining why you lied to me?" Slowly, Usagi turned around to see none other than Chiba Mamoru himself.

* * *

Oh my! I'm excited! Why, you ask? Well, for starters, this fic only has one or two more chapters to go, and I'm starting at my new school on Monday! Yay! Obviously, I would not normally be this excited, but as I said earlier, I'm moving to a _really_ small town, and all cities in my state get the same amount of money to spend on education. In small towns, there are only so many students and faculty you can spend the money on, so the rest of it goes into making these massive campuses with all this high-tech, state-of-the-art stuff. So yay! Hopefully I haven't bored you with my excited, back-to-school ranting.

P.S. Is anyone here on Polyvore?

Please review!


	10. Revealed

SerenityEndymion: If you give it up, you'll never get it back... Haha. :)

Forever and Always a Fan: Thank you!

* * *

Usagi sighed heavily before getting up off the couch and stalking past Mamoru, grabbing his arm and dragging him along with her. Kenji looked just about ready to kill the poor man, but the two senshi in the room gave him warning looks that told him not to go. Usagi pulled Mamoru into the elevator and pressed the button for the top floor. The two stood in uncomfortable silence while waiting for the elevator to move, the dim, ornate lights on the walls casting an eerie glow on both of them.

Usagi glanced out of the corner of her eye and saw Mamoru's cold, emotionless face, the lights glowing orange on his face, half in shadow, like a fire. He looked even more handsome than he usually did, if that was even possible. No, Usagi was not going to deny that Mamoru had good looks, nor would she deny that she loved him. She was just supremely pissed off at him for lying to her then getting mad at her for lying to him. Still, she fought the urge to reach out and hold his hand.

Suddenly, the elevator doors opened, and Usagi turned her head back to where the elevator doors had been quickly. She walked into her bedroom, Mamoru following close- but not too close- behind. This was the first time either had seen the bedroom, and Usagi noticed that it could hardly be called a bedroom. She appeared to be in a living room of some sort with a U-shaped sectional sofa, a love seat, some tables, and one of those cool chairs that was too big for one person and too small for two. Usagi also noticed two plush chaise lounges without arms placed next to each other, touching, facing opposite directions so two people could face each other while not being completely pressed together. Bookshelves lined one wall, making the room look collected, polished, despite the little knickknacks everywhere.

There were three doors, two on the wall with the elevator, and one on the opposite wall. Usagi wondered which of the three led to the bedroom.

She was snapped out of her thoughts when Mamoru pulled her over to the sofa, the two sitting down next to each other. Usagi, feeling that Mamoru's anger and frustration had worn off substantially, slowly began to adjust herself so her head was lying in Mamoru's lap.

"Just tell me why you lied to me," Mamoru whispered. "The truth, not any of this crap you've made up about protecting me."

Usagi looked up at him, tears in her eyes. "I was worried that you would think I was some sort of freak," she confessed. "That you wouldn't want to be involved with me in any way because I was different, an alien. Now why did you lie to me?"

"You were just so perfect," Mamoru tried to explain. "And you were involved with the senshi, who Tuxedo Kamen isn't exactly the closest of friends with... I guess I was afraid of rejection, too."

"Then why are we still angry at each other?" Usagi asked, sitting up and kneeling on the sofa next to Mamoru. She took his hands in hers, tears evident in her eyes. "Please, I just... I know we like each other, from before we had our memories of the past and after, so-"

"Love," Mamoru stated, no emotion betraying his face.

"Wh-what?" Usagi asked, slightly confused.

"Love," Mamoru repeated. "As in, I don't like you. I love you."

"You... what?" Usagi asked in shock.

"I love you," Mamoru whispered. He gently took the back of her neck and pulled her close, kissing her on the lips. Usagi's eyes widened in shock as Mamoru's lips touched hers, though they slowly closed. Mamoru grabbed one of her legs at the back of the knee and pulled it over so that she was straddling his waist. His hands then began moving all over her body: her hair, her back, her hips, her butt... Mamoru couldn't get enough of her. His hands wound up on the small of her back, pressing her close to him.

She moaned at the simple action, arching her body to Mamoru's more. She wrapped her arms around his neck as his tongue slid along her bottom lip. The blonde teen gasped in surprise and pulled away. She would have fallen back onto the floor if it had not been for Mamoru's hands on her back. They were both breathing heavily, their chests still pressed against each other.

"I love you, too," Usagi whispered against Mamoru's lips. She then pulled away and cleared her throat nervously. "Uh... w-we should probably go talk to my parents or... something."

Usagi got off of Mamoru's lap, grabbing his hand and pulling him up as well. However, when she tried to walk away, Mamoru pulled her back, kissing her on the lips yet again. Slowly, the two pulled away, walking back into the elevator to head down to talk to Usagi's parents.

The first thing everyone noticed was that Usagi and Mamoru were holding hands. They all stared on as Mamoru took a seat in a large chair, pulling Usagi down to sit in his lap. Kenji looked ready to kill the dark-haired man, but Ikuko's hand on his shoulder stopped him. So instead, he watched as his daughter laid her head on her bodyguard/boyfriend/fiance/guy from the past's shoulder.

"So what is the... relationship between you two?" Ikuko asked.

"I used to be known as Serenity, Moon Princess, and he used to be known as Endymion, Earth Prince," Usagi explained. "Serenity snuck to Earth one night, and she met Endymion. They formed a friendship that gradually turned to love." _It is better to give them the simple version this late and tell them the full story later,_ Usagi thought as she checked her watch.

11:39

"When we died, we were reincarnated as you know us today: the Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen," Usagi continued. "Yes, we will still likely get married one day, but no time soon. Tomorrow, with the permission of my senshi and Mamo-chan, as well as you, I will reveal my identity to the world tomorrow, and if the senshi and their families agree, their identities will be revealed as well." Usagi looked to Minako, Makoto, and Mamoru.

"I agree," Mamoru decided.

"As do I," Makoto nodded.

There was a bit of a pause from Minako before she, too, nodded. "I'll call Ami-chan and Rei-chan," she stated before leaving the room.

"What about you?" Usagi asked, looking at her parents and Shingo.

"I'm in," Shingo nodded, not really thinking about it.

Kenji and Ikuko, on the other hand, seemed to think it over for a moment. They shared a knowing look before turning to Usagi. "Okay," Kenji agreed.

"Thank you," Usagi said softly, a small smile on her face. "Now, I suggest we all sleep here tonight. Minako-chan is likely going to make a statement to the news tonight so people will know our identities are being revealed tomorrow. There'll be such a crowd and people looking over their shoulders that the secret passageways leading to the city might be noticed if people come in or out of them. There are plenty of rooms on the third floor. I'm going to go to bed; it's late."

With that, Usagi headed upstairs to her bedroom. She walked through the living area and opened the door on the wall opposite the elevator. She walked inside and saw a king-sized bed pressed against the wall with an ornate headboard made of iron. There was also a dresser with mirror, some organization shelves, and two doors, one to the closet, one to the bathroom.

Usagi really didn't have time to acknowledge it, as she was so tired she merely fell into bed and practically passed out.

The next day, Usagi stood in the library, nervously straightening the dress she was wearing. "You can always back out if you want to," Ikuko told her. "No one will blame you."

"No, but I would," Usagi replied. "I need to get this done before something happens."

Usagi walked out of the room and into the main hall, up to the massive foyer, where about a hundred some-odd reporters were waiting in their seats, though once they saw her, they all stood up and started asking questions in a jumbled mess. Usagi approached the podium that one of the senshi had set up and placed her hands on the sides, almost needing it to brace her. She did as she had seen on TV many times before, putting her hand up. The crowd, much to Usagi's surprise, silenced immediately, sitting back down in their seats.

"Now, I am Princess Serenity," Usagi began. "But... I'm not here to talk to you about peace treaties or magic palaces that appear out of nowhere. I'm here to tell you the truth. You see, most people now know me as Princess Serenity, but to some, I am known better as..." She let her glamour fade, revealing her normal self in her school uniform before continuing, "Tsukino Usagi."

* * *

Eh... could this be considered a cliffhanger? Only the epilogue to go!

Oh, and for the record, the reviews (or lack thereof) on the last chapter made me sad. :( May I please have some more reviews before the epilogue is finished? Thank you!


	11. Epilogue

Wow, I'm surprised I still got some story alerts when this fic only had 500-1,000 words left in it. (Shrugs) Oh well, either way, thanks!

HatchetChu: Yay for making up and happy endings!

SerenityEndymion: Thanks, and to be honest, I'm kinda sad whenever I finish a fanfic, too.

inufan155687: Yeah, they only officially became a couple a few hours earlier... That'd be awkward... o.O

Koneko: Remember, all good things must come to an end... like ice cream.

janice: Thanks!

* * *

Usagi nervously peeked her head inside the classroom before her body followed in suit, walking into the classroom. The room suddenly went silent as all attention was turned towards her. The blonde princess quickly checked behind her before taking a step back, reappearing seconds later, practically dragging Ami and Makoto along with her. The three girls nervously took seats in the back, though as school had not started, the class crowded around them.

All Usagi could hear was a dull ringing in her ears as she was asked question after question. Thankfully, the bell rang, silencing the class as they all scurried to their seats. What she had noticed, however, was that Naru had never left her seat. Instead, she watched Usagi, a hurt expression on her face.

And all the blonde could do at that point was mouth 'I'm sorry'.

Usagi later found herself in the palace library, looking over the resumes from the Americas that had made it through both Ami and Minako. She had turned her phone off long ago, seeing as most people in possession of her phone number had tried to sell it. She hadn't even been able to go back home due to the paparazzi surrounding it.

She felt a strong pair of arms wrap around her from behind, and she looked up to see Mamoru standing there, a calm look on his face. "You okay?" he asked softly, moving to sit next to her on the sofa, allowing her to lean into him as she worked.

"I'm fine," she sighed. "It's just... people are reacting, and I guess I never really accounted for that. I honestly just expected people to say, 'Oh, okay, some teenage girl is ruling the planet'. I never thought of the people who knew me and saw me start pulling away and feel betrayed for that. What do I do?"

"My advice?" Mamoru asked, earning a nod from Usagi. "Apologize. You can't get anywhere if you don't do that."

"Thanks," Usagi whispered before kissing Mamoru on the lips. After that, she got up from her seat next to Mamoru and headed out.

The last thing Osaka Naru had expected when opening the door was to see Usagi standing there in a hoodie and baggy sweatpants. She had her head down low, obviously because she was trying to avoid the paparazzi. Good thing no one had ever thought to look for Sailor Moon's friends- or former friends- or her front yard would be a zoo.

"Can we talk?" Usagi asked in a quiet voice.

"Oh, now how could I _possibly_ deny the _great_ Princess Serenity?" Naru asked sarcastically.

"Naru-chan, don't do that," Usagi half-begged.

"And why shouldn't I?" Naru snapped.

Usagi sighed and looked around nervously before walking into her former friend's house, dragging said former friend along with her.

"Hey!" Naru exclaimed angrily. "Did I say you could come in?"

"Please, just hear me out," Usagi pleaded. Naru shifted her weight back, and Usagi knew that meant she had 60 seconds before the redhead threw her out. So, she took a deep breath and began, "You remember when I got Luna? Well she's my adviser from the moon and she gave me this magical brooch that turned me into Sailor Moon my first mission Luna sent me on was to stop that youma attacking at your mother's store and after I did Luna told me that I could never tell anyone my secret identity or they would be in grave danger because of my enemies the Dark Kingdom I met Sailors Mercury and Mars shortly after and that hot guy you liked that was a Dark Kingdom agent who tried to kill me but Zoicite killed him then Sailor Jupiter came along and we had to fight Zoicite and get the Nijizuishou which supposedly formed the Ginzuishou so we could find the Moon Princess then Zoicite and Kunzite attacked us and Sailor Venus came along to save us and I freaked out because I couldn't breathe and wound up using my powers to destroy the Dark Company and everyone in it and accidentally made the Crystal Palace rise- how I'm not sure- and then Luna and Artemis- another adviser- told me I had to keep my identity as the Moon Princess a secret until things calmed down and then I met my lover in my past life and we got mad at each other and I started crying and the Ginzuishou formed around a tear and then I realized I had to tell everyone who I am and I never meant for you to find out who I am this way and I am so so sorry."

Usagi was panting by the time she had finished her explanation, though she still had to wait for Naru's reaction. "Please forgive me," Usagi whispered.

Naru swallowed nervously, obviously thinking hard about the choices she had. Sure, she could easily kick Usagi out, or even call the paparazzi and tell them where she was, but Usagi had been her friend for longer than she could remember. Slowly, she nodded, uncrossing her arms. "Do you want a cup of hot chocolate or something?" she finally asked.

Usagi smiled and nodded. Maybe things would turn out okay after all...

* * *

How do you like Usagi's epic run-on sentence there at the end? LOL

(Sniff) It's over! I loved writing this fic, and I'd like to thank all those who reviewed and put me on story and author favs and alerts. It's been fun writing this, and I hope the epilogue lived up to your expectations. Thanks again!


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